Caught in a Riptide
by Lizicia
Summary: 'He knows what's been done but just needs that one tangible connection to Annie.' Auggie and Eyal have a talk after Annie's death. Post 4x10.


**A/N:** So, this is something new for me because this story is from Auggie's POV which I've never done before. But the idea came to me and wouldn't leave me be until I wrote this story, really pushing myself to write something dialogue-heavy. With Auggie's blindness I really couldn't rely on my usual methods so I do hope the end result is still enjoyable.

Takes place a little after Annie's "death" and is Auggie and Eyal but very Annie-centric. Give it a chance.

**Disclaimer:** Everything belongs to Chris Ord and Matt Corman. Title is from Susie Suh & Robot Koch's _Here With Me_.

* * *

Even before Auggie types up the message he's been thinking of for the past three days, he knows it's a bad idea. Knows and full well acknowledges that he shouldn't be doing this, shouldn't be so desperate and so reckless but he pushes on despite that feeling and opens the web page he hoped he would never have to use again.

_Lost female collie three days ago. Finder's fee._

And pushes enter. And then he waits, patiently going through the motions of his everyday life. He hopes it wasn't in vain because he has no way of knowing whether the person on the other end is even connected to that protocol anymore or if he cares enough. Auggie has no tangible proof of his connection but he knows how things go and this is the most logical conclusion he has come up with.

He isn't mistaken; two days later the message board contains a single reply.

_Information available. 1400 WM, F._

He lets out a shuddering breath and makes his way to the DC War Memorial on Friday. He can feel that it's a pleasant day, with the way the sun casts its rays upon him and from the sound of children's giggles he guesses the streets are packed. The memorial, however, is quiet and while he can hear people passing him by occasionally, there aren't throngs of people and he hopes to go relatively undetected.

"Don't you just love D.C. in the fall?"

The voice appears out of nowhere and Auggie curses himself for not being able to detect the other man's presence beforehand.

"Eyal."

"Auggie."

A hand reaches out to shake his and then takes him by the arm, to be his guide.

"So, shall we walk or do you prefer to sit?"

"Can you walk and keep an eye on the surroundings at the same time? I would help but I'm not much for keeping an eye on anything."

He hears Eyal's chuckling and feels him pull them aside from the walkway. Once they stop, Auggie sits and is grateful that he does land on a park bench with relative ease.

"Oh, I do love D.C. in the fall."

"I wasn't sure you'd come."

There's a moment of silence before he hears Eyal's reply. "And I wasn't sure I should come. But here we are."

He doesn't respond to that but mulls for a moment over how he should continue this. Eyal, however, makes that decision for him.

"But why am I here?"

"I know it was you."

"It was me _what_?"

His tone is a bit edgier now and Auggie can feel the air around them thickening with barely detectable tension.

"It was you in Germany."

"Even if I had been in Germany as of late, which I'm not saying I have, it still doesn't answer my question. Why did you ask me to come here?"

Auggie feels frustrated at the other man's persistence in not saying anything and while it would be an admirable trait under different circumstances, right now it only serves to make him angry. So he decides to go for the kill and say what they're both really meaning to say.

"I know you helped Annie fake her death."

There is no immediate reply and he really wishes he would have his sight; it's difficult to gauge emotions when there's no visual emotional response to go on.

"Auggie. I respect you but you know there's nothing I could tell you. It's not safe for you to know because it's not safe for her."

"But you were there, weren't you?"

He hears Eyal let out a long breath before he concedes. "How did you know?"

He shrugs. It was really the only thing that made sense; Michaels wouldn't have had the time or means to hide her before the paramedics arrived and Annie wouldn't have entrusted her life with someone she didn't know. Which left her with only one choice.

"I know she trusts you. It made sense to think it was you."

Eyal doesn't say anything and he quips, knowing what the other man is probably doing. "You know, if you nod or shake your head, I can't really see it."

Now he chuckles and Auggie can imagine a smile on his face, even if he doesn't know what the agent looks like.

"Your logic is astounding, Auggie. I'm just glad no one else at the CIA has figured this out."

"For everyone else, she died in that elevator."

If his voice does crack a little when he says _she died_, Eyal has the decency to not mention it. Auggie knows – even if he's reluctant to admit it – that it wasn't an easy thing to go through for the other man as well. And Auggie didn't need to see Annie go down to have the sound of gunshots and her final words to him echo in his dreams every night.

"How did you do it?"

"Auggie. The less you know, the better. I've already said too much."

"I just want to know because...then I know she's not really dead."

He really wishes he could see because the pauses of silence Eyal takes between his answers make him edgy. Wishes he could see so he would know the kind of expression Eyal is wearing and that it would give him the answers to the questions he really wants to be asking but probably doesn't want to hear an answer to.

"She's really not dead, Auggie."

"Do you think it will stay that way? I mean, how are we supposed to know she isn't in danger?"

Eyal sighs and Auggie feels him grasp his fingers for a moment before letting go.

"We'll just have to hope. It was her choice to make and she knows exactly how much it's costing everyone."

"Does she, really? I had to call her sister and lie to her. I had to go to her funeral and listen to people speaking about her, all the while knowing that almost nothing they were saying was the truth."

"At least they were good speeches."

He turns bodily towards Eyal, certain that surprise is written all over his face. "You were there?"

"Like you said, she trusts me and that much is common knowledge in the intelligence community. I couldn't not go; it might have endangered her and cast a suspicion over the fact that I took a vacation from Mossad at the same time she died."

"Right. Makes sense. They weren't opposed to you attending the funeral of someone who's been declared a traitor of their country?"

"It wasn't my country so they didn't really care."

He nods though he's still a bit surprised he hadn't known Eyal was there or that no one had spotted him and inquired who the good-looking stranger was who attended the funeral and what his connection to Annie was.

"So, is that how Langley is portraying her? A traitor?"

"She was officially declared rogue so that's all she gets. Not even a star on the wall."

"But I see you're still wearing a black ribbon?"

He feels Eyal's fingers coast over the ribbon and nods. "No one will tell me to take it off. I cared and I won't let them make her disappear."

"Here."

Eyal takes his hand and he understands that it's set on the lapel of Eyal's coat. When he tentatively moves his fingers, he feels a very familiar shape on the lapel and smiles. "So we match, then?"

He can practically feel Eyal smiling. "No one will make me take it off either." He doesn't repeat Auggie's last sentence but he knows the sentiment the other man isn't saying out loud.

"Did you tell her-"

"What?"

Auggie's not sure where that question came from, especially since he's pretty sure he doesn't really want to ask _Did you tell her how much __you__ care? _because he's spent too much time not thinking about it.

"What was the last thing you told her? You know, last words and all that." He diverts from his original question and even if Eyal knows what he was going to say, he doesn't point it out.

"I told her I hope to meet her again. That she can come back because that's what she deserves."

"Henry Wilcox will do anything to prevent that from happening."

"Well, that's why she-"

And he stops mid-sentence but Auggie's interest is already piqued. He wasn't expecting Eyal to really slip up and tell him something substantial about what Annie's doing and how she plans on doing it but with a sudden clarity, he knows.

"She did go to Switzerland, didn't she? To take on Sana Wilcox all on her own."

Eyal doesn't answer but Auggie doesn't really need him to. "I should be there. I should help her or assist her or-"

"You can't and you know it."

"Fine. But why won't you, then?"

He doesn't mean to sound so angry and biting but his feelings are mixing him up and there's no way of staying cool and rational when he knows the kind of danger Annie's subjecting herself to, being all alone in Europe.

"You know I can't either."

"Why not? You're a master spy, aren't you? You could help her or maybe you just don't really care and-"

"Do you really think you're the only one who..cares for her?" Eyal's voice rises in anger and if Auggie wasn't so used to extracting all of his information from voices, he wouldn't have noticed the slightest pause before Eyal said _cares_, wouldn't have noticed him substituting that for a different word and knows what he really wanted to say.

"I was in Zurich for a mission and it took everything I had not to make a foolish decision and find her. And it's not because I don't care. I would put her in so much more danger by doing anything like that and you really should know better than to tell me I wouldn't help her if I could."

Auggie can hear the anger and frustration in his voice, can tell he's being truthful and is reminded of another time, another conversation in Amsterdam. _I would never leave her. I would never leave her either._

"Yeah, you're right. Sorry. I'm just...you know."

"I do know."

Eyal's voice is calmer now and he has managed to reign his emotions in, no trace of anger to be found anymore. After a moment's breath, Eyal continues in a soft voice.

"I told her she was amazing. To give her one good thing to hold on to."

It's a more intimate revelation than what he said before and Auggie feels his heart clench inside his chest. No matter the respect he has for the man, no matter how he trusts Annie, a small vicious part of him wants to remind Eyal that he won, that Annie chose him and that's that. That he was the one to tell her the three most important words and she repeated them back to him. That he was there first and no matter what Eyal does, he will always win. Those are the thoughts that have kept him up at night when the jealousy inside rears its ugly head and no matter how much he quashes those feelings, they will never fully go away.

But a much more reasonable part of him knows that Annie and Eyal have been friends for almost as long as he's known Annie and she chose to trust him with her life. So he doesn't let himself get carried away and reveal more than he should.

"That's a very good thing to say."

"I do hope she'll come back, Auggie. You must know that. You'll get her back."

For a brief moment Auggie contemplates what saying that last sentence must cost Eyal but he only nods in response and stands. He reaches out and Eyal pushes his hand forward into a hand-shake.

"Thank you, Eyal."

There's a moment of silence and he can feel Eyal looking at his face, possibly reading the emotions he's trying to hide – and hopefully succeeding at – before he responds.

"She'll be back. That's what she does."

* * *

**A/N: Whether you liked it or not, please let me know what you thought!**


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